The gender pay gap and the growing gender pension gap continue to be significant barriers to achieving workplace equality in Ireland. Despite meaningful progress in recent years, including stronger legislation and rising cultural awareness, the 2025 reporting cycle makes it clear that structural challenges remain. Understanding these gaps requires clarity around what the data actually measures.
The gender pay gap does not reflect unequal pay for the same job, which is illegal. Instead, it captures the average difference in hourly earnings between men and women across an organisation or workforce. In other words:
Drawing on the Gender Pay Gap reporting landscape and the 2024 Irish Life research on pension disparities, this article explores the scale, causes and corporate responses surrounding these long-standing issues, and what must change for Ireland to move closer to genuine gender equality.
The State of the Gender Pay Gap in Ireland, 2025
In 2025, Ireland marks its fourth year of mandatory gender pay gap (GPG) reporting, with the Gender Pay Gap Information Act’s threshold lowered further: all organisations with 50 or more employees must now publicly disclose their pay gap data by November every year. This development brings around 6,000 additional companies into the national reporting framework, significantly improving transparency and accountability. The introduction of a government-run public portal is a positive step, even though it is not yet fully open. As it becomes fully operational, gender pay gap data will be easier to access and compare, giving employees and the public greater transparency. Over time, that level of visibility can turn scrutiny into a catalyst for meaningful change.
Despite legal requirements for equal pay for equal work, the gender pay gap persists. It reflects not only individual bias or discrimination, but the way many workplace systems were originally designed.
The Gender Pension Gap: An Invisible Divide
Even more staggering than the pay gap is the gender pension gap, a disparity that has remained largely under the radar until recently. According to the Irish Life “In Search of Pension Parity” 2024 report and data collated in July 2024 by Unio Employee Benefits, women retiring in Ireland may expect, on average 22% to 36% less in their pension pot than men.
Key Statistics and Underlying Causes
Structural issues such as lower salaries, reduced time in continuous employment, and the persistent “glass ceiling” in leadership amplify the pension gap. The solution requires a multi-layered approach, combining government policy, employer reform, and individual engagement.
Corporate Case Studies and Actions
Several large Irish employers, conscious of growing transparency expectations and the reputational impact of their gender pay data, are starting to take more deliberate action.
Some financial and professional services firms now provide narrative context in their pay gap reports, outline the results of pay-parity audits, and review promotion, salary and leave policies through a gender lens. A number are also beginning to look more critically at structural levers such as pathways to leadership, work allocation practices and sponsorship models.
Common emerging practices include offering more flexible pension arrangements to help maintain contributions during unpaid leave and standardising employer pension contributions for maternity and parental leave.
While these measures do not close the gap on their own, they reflect a shift towards more inclusive system design and a growing recognition that long-term equity requires structural and cultural change. The most effective organisations are taking a long-term approach, combining policy change with accountability mechanisms for leaders and practical support for women at critical career transitions.
Sectors Showing the Most Progress on Reducing the Gender Pay Gap
- Retail
- Administration
- Government / Health
- Charities
These sectors consistently report single-digit gender pay gaps and have made steady improvements from 2022 to 2025. Notably, the aviation sector has shown the largest decrease in the gender pay gap, followed by the manufacturing and transport/storage sectors, all recording significant year-over-year improvements. However, some traditionally male-dominated industries, such as engineering, construction, and technology, still show pronounced disparities due to low female representation, especially in higher-paid roles and senior positions. Sectors like legal, entertainment, recreation, and utilities have occasionally seen increases rather than improvements, highlighting ongoing challenges.
These patterns underline the importance of representation at senior levels: sectors with the most balanced leadership pipelines show the most sustained progress.
Public response to the gender pay gap report 2025
The public response has shifted gender pay gap reporting from a compliance exercise into an influential driver of corporate accountability and culture change in Ireland.
- Increased scrutiny and demand for transparency: The introduction of a centralised public portal for gender pay gap reporting will make it easier for employees, jobseekers, media, and investors to compare companies and publicly question those with high gaps or slow progress. There is now greater public pressure on businesses to justify their gender pay data and outline substantive plans for improvement.
- Employee activism and engagement: Employees, especially women, express greater awareness and expectation for fair pay practices. Many openly discuss pay equity and use published data as leverage in salary negotiations or career choices. Some reports note quiet frustration or disappointment among workers at companies posting wide gaps without clear action plans.
- Media coverage and visibility: Irish media provides prominent coverage of the annual reporting cycle, calling out both positive examples and laggards. A major driver of this visibility is the work of advocacy organisation such as PWN Dublin (Professional Women’s Network Dublin). PWN Dublin has been proactive in pushing for transparency, hosting events, and sharing resources to help both companies and individuals understand the data behind gender pay gaps. The organisation regularly brings together diverse leaders, HR professionals, and change-makers to discuss best practices, share stories, and mentor women at different career stages. This public-facing dialogue has played a key role in making the reporting process more meaningful and less performative.
- Calls for stronger enforcement and meaningful action: There are ongoing criticisms about the quality and thoroughness of some company reports, with the public and advocacy groups calling for tighter legislation, standardized report formats, and active government enforcement to ensure real change beyond mere compliance.
Looking Ahead: Bridging the Gaps
Closing Ireland’s gender pay and pension gaps will require sustained commitment and coordinated action across policy, employers and society.
- Policymakers are encouraged to advance auto-enrolment reforms, strengthen protections for career breaks and caregiving, and explore tax measures that support long-term pension equity.
- Employers play a decisive role. Regularly reviewing salary structures, promotion pathways and pension schemes ensures women’s financial security is built into workforce planning, not treated as an afterthought. Embedding inclusive design into how work is structured and how careers progress will be essential for removing systemic barriers rather than continuing to work around them. Globally, the interventions that consistently deliver the strongest results include setting measurable targets, providing active sponsorship, creating transparent pathways to senior roles and conducting work allocation audits to ensure high-value opportunities are shared fairly.
- Individuals, particularly women, should be supported to understand and maximise their pension options through financial education, confidence-building and guidance on additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) and long-term planning.
It is also essential to recognise that gender balance is not solely a women’s issue. Organisations with more balanced workforces benefit from stronger decision-making, higher innovation and healthier workplace cultures. Men gain too, with reduced pressure from outdated expectations and lower levels of burnout. At a societal level, economies with greater gender equality are more stable, more resilient and more capable of long-term growth. Naming these benefits strengthens the business case without diluting the values case.
In sum, while mandatory reporting is a powerful catalyst, the real measure of progress will be whether organisations transform transparency into action. For Irish business in 2025 and beyond, the challenge is clear: build cultures where fairness, opportunity and long-term financial security are part of the design, not the exception. Only then can Ireland close its gender-based pay and pension gaps.
If this matters to you, joining the conversation is a vital first step, and PWN Dublin offers a community where that conversation becomes action. By becoming a member or volunteer, you join a network committed to advancing workplace equality, creating meaningful change, and supporting women at every stage of their careers. If you’re passionate about shaping a fairer future for Ireland, connect with PWN Dublin. Because every voice and action matters.